“About two weeks ago, every auntie switched to “We Are Family.” So when I hit my limit on Sister Sledge, I locked the classic ring in.”

“You can do that?”

“I was desperate.”

“How do you know which auntie it is?”

“Does it matter?” Charlie sighed. “Hel . . .”

“So you’re there,” Auntie Bea sniffed. Auntie Bea was the senior of the four aunties now living in Calgary. The aunties themselves would say they had no hierarchy, but then the aunties themselves said a lot of things the rest of the family couldn’t get away with. “Good.”

“Actually, I’m in Baltimore, Auntie Bea. It’s two-thirty in the morning, and you woke me out of a sound sleep.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Charlotte; you’re clearly in Calgary.”

“Because I answered the phone?”

“Because the stoplights are working again. As you seem to have returned from where the wild things are . . .”

Charlie buried a yawn in her forearm. Aunties being clever. Just what the world needed.

“. . . you could make an effort to think of someone other than yourself and be there for your cousin.”

“I am here for my cousin.”

“I was referring to emotional support, rather than the soothing balm of your mere presence.”

“I got that.”

“We offered our support, singly and collectively, but Alysha . . .”

Refused them entry to the apartment, Charlie figured, since none of them were there.

“. . . wanted you.”

“I know.”

Charlie could practically hear Auntie Bea forcing her teeth to unclench. “So what was the problem?”

“I’m not sure you actually want to know . . .”

“Charlotte, we’re her family. We want to help.”

“It’s a sex thing, Auntie Bea. It seems that while I was gone, Graham just couldn’t match my practiced ability at . . .” Charlie snickered as Auntie Bea hung up. Some aunties would have wanted the details. And then offered advice. The trick, as with most performances, was knowing the audience.

Allie snorted. “They can tell when you’re lying, you know.”

“Unless Graham got in some serious practicing while I was gone, it wasn’t a lie.”

“Wanting to talk to you about the pregnancy before I made it common knowledge does not make my emotional state your responsibility.”

After giving serious thought to throwing her phone out the window, Charlie tossed it on the coffee table and sat back down. “I know.”

“I’m fully capable of being responsible for myself, this branch of the family, two babies, these new babies, the last zucchini out of Auntie Carmen’s cold frame, and as much of Calgary as needs me at any given time.”

The pique shifted and Charlie almost heard . . . No. Gone again. “I know.”

“Stop saying that!” Allie took a deep breath and clutched the cushion a little tighter. “Okay, let’s go back to when you heard bouzouki music.”